The government is aiming to ensure the swift “return to normalcy” of the communities affected by the strong earthquake in Luzon, President Duterte declared Tuesday.
The President met with several Cabinet members and other concerned government officials for a post-earthquake situation briefing in Pampanga last Tuesday, after inspecting the damage caused by the tremor.
“We did try but you know we had to discuss, made the assessment, made ocular inspections of the damage and since the Cabinet members were there, we had a conference of how the task could be divided so that the places hard hit by the earthquake would return to normalcy as soon as possible,” Duterte said before an assembly of health professionals in Pasay City after his visit to Pampanga.
“That is the catchword of every catastrophe and disaster. It’s always try to endeavor as fast as you can to return to normalcy. So that is what I did there,” he added.
The President earlier visited Pampanga, an area severely hit by the magnitude-6.1 earthquake that struck Luzon last Monday. He was accompanied by House Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo and other government officials during his visit to Pampanga, which has been placed under a state of calamity.
Duterte inspected the Chuzon Supermarket in Porac which collapsed during the quake and visited the wake of one of the victims.
From Porac, he went to the Pampanga provincial capitol in San Fernando City, Pampanga where he was given a briefing on the disaster rescue and relief efforts from concerned officials. Duterte later ordered the suspension of the business operations of all Chuzon grocery stores in Pampanga pending the safety assessment of the buildings. (Genalyn Kabiling)
